Praise for One Drop Holds The Sun

One Drop Holds the Sun

A Review by David Wilson

Occasionally in life you experience something that moves you in a way that you did not think possible: something that touches you and makes you see life, something that is so familiar, in a very different way.

For the sake of transparency, I should say that I am a solicitor and for more than a quarter of a century I have worked in family law with a focus on child protection. 

Every case I have dealt with involves loss and sadness and pain. On many, many occasions in many different cases, I and the other lawyers will say something like, “This is such a sad case.” The fact that we say it so often does not make it any less true, but there is no doubt that the words lose their force and, at least to some extent become cliched and hackneyed.

‘One Drop Holds the Sun’ caused me to look at the work I do and the way I do it in a very different way. 

It is a sweeping, poetic book that is both beautiful and tragic that seamlessly weaves biography with dreams and fantasy.

Perhaps unsurprisingly it is the accounts of Hope’s experience in the court process that for me has most impact. The account of arriving at court to find out that barrister representing her was not the same person who had attended court on the last occasion. ‘Didn’t your solicitor let you know?’ A little too close for comfort.

There is an honesty, more than that, a visceral sense of loss and pain and injustice that runs through the book.

How do I respond to - ‘The young man stood before Emma was indeed Emma’s son, Aaron; he had been forcefully adopted via the UK's highly secretive Family Courts just 2 weeks before his 5th birthday.’

The lawyer in me, the rational part of me, balks at the notion of a child being forcefully adopted, but it is true that adoption can and does take place against the wishes of the parents. I think of the family court as being confidential rather than secretive (there are real changes being made to try and make family justice more transparent), but perhaps I am dancing on the head of a pin. It is clear to me that anyone who does not work in the ‘system’ could view the process in exactly those terms.

Amidst the sadness and the loss there is hope or more accurately Hope. There is redemption, there is understanding and there is, most powerfully, forgiveness. The idea of forgiveness explored in

Hope’s relationship with Kwame is so powerful. ‘Firstly forgiveness – forgive yourself you may have many regrets, but you cannot change the past…’ 

‘One Drop Holds the Sun’ is not an easy read but is compelling and it is important, and it has caused me to reflect on my practice. I think perhaps we all need to hear the message of forgiveness. 

My colleagues, family and friends may get tired of me quoting from it, ‘I will not simply survive, I will love.’

I want to thank all the women who contributed…’I still have a long way to go but with your help I know I can do this. God bless you.’

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